


tumbling in the field

by itsnotaboutlove



Series: The Chef and The Historian [24]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Accident, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Daddy/Daughter Day, F/M, Gen, Kiddie Soccer, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 00:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6063427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsnotaboutlove/pseuds/itsnotaboutlove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sophia's soccer practice results in an accident. and the discovery of a catchphrase that keeps the kids laughing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tumbling in the field

"Daddy, you gots your caw-fee?" Olivia asked, as she followed him alongside the soccer field. 

"I got my coffee," Chris nodded, as he took her hand into his. "You got your smoothie?" 

Olivia nodded, skipping along side him, holding the plastic cup that held her mango-apple smoothie. Finding a good spot, Chris set the tote bag and beach chair down, along with the cup of ice coffee. Watching as he opened up the lawn chair, Olivia sipped her drink slowly, as other parents settled in for the early afternoon practice. 

"Okay, lets sit down," Chris said, easing his tired body into the chair. "I brought enough snacks and picture books to keep you occupied." 

"Daddy, can I go on the slide?" she asked, pointing to the playground nearby. "Pllllleaseeee?" 

Chris sighed, "After Sophie's done with her practice," he said, earning a pout. "Hey, Mommy wanted us to watch Sophie play soccer today. And she also wanted us to send pictures." 

With Melanie in Spokane for a conference at WSU Spokane, Chris was left home with four kids for four days. Luckily, Charlotte spent the first three days at Julie's house, while CJ and the twins filled their summer days with naps, trips to the park and to Uncle Bones and Uncle Jim's house. But today, with Sophia's soccer practice, being that it was pushing ninety degrees outside, Chris was forced to take Olivia with him while CJ spent the day with Jim and the kids. 

"Ohhh-kay," Olivia sighed, leaning against his leg. "Are we cooking chicken boobies on the barber-cue?" 

"We are," he nodded, as she chewed on her straw. "Then, we'll get the rest of the laundry done tonight, that way it's put away before Mommy comes home tomorrow." 

The sound of a whistle from the field, made the girl turn around quickly, as Sophia's coaches got the group of girls together on the the field. Olivia giggled, as the adults released the bag of soccer balls for the girls, sending them into a wild frenzy. The idea of signing Sophia up for a summer sport, came from the school therapist at the end of May, after several trips to the principle's office and therapist's office occurred. 

" _I think if Sophia took her aggression out elsewhere, it would help her tremendously,"_ the woman said, as Melanie and Chris were called in. " _The recreational center holds kiddie soccer tournaments in the summer, along with other sports. I think any sport would be great for her, but soccer might be the best option for her. She can kick a ball around and participate in mini-tournaments with other girls her age."_

After a long discussion, they decided to sign Sophia up for the program, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. If all else failed, they would be forced to get her evaluated with a behavior specialist before school started in September. 

 _"The last thing I want, is for her to get a mis-diagnosis and be fed a diet of pills,"_ Melanie said, as they picked up Sophia's soccer uniform and other gear. " _Maybe she'll end up loving soccer and it'll be her ticket into college. I mean, it'll be one less tuition bill we'd have to pay for, right?"_

Three weeks into the program and Sophia was  _loving_ it, much to her parents relief and surprise. Everything was about soccer, as Sophia played in the backyard almost everyday she could. She showed off each scratch and bruise with pride, whenever her Aunts and Uncles came over for the day. It also started to help with her behavior, as she became less and less violent at home. Sure, the temper tantrums occurred, but not as often as before. Or as bad, which resulted in her being carried upstairs and left alone for twenty minutes or until she fell asleep, crying and screaming herself into unconsciousness. 

"Daddy, I want fishies," Olivia said, patting his knee; her eyes darting along with the ball being kicked on the field. "Fishies, please." 

Taking out the plastic container of goldfish crackers, Chris held the container in his hand and in front of Olivia, as she picked one fish out at a time. As the coaches went over drills, blowing whistles every few minutes, Chris managed to get a few pictures of Sophia kicking her ball around, before sending them to Melanie. 

 _"She looks so cute! Now, if only we could get Olivia into a sport!"_ Melanie texted back quickly. Chris thanked his lucky stars that Olivia had no interest in playing sports, let alone doing anything that involved aggressiveness.

.............................

The next twenty minutes went slowly, as the temperature soared, as the sun did the same in the afternoon sky. Re-applying sunscreen to Olivia, Chris managed to get her to sit down with a bottle of water, while he sat back to watch Sophia run around. 

"It's hottttt!" Olivia whined, laying down on the grass. "Wanna go home!" 

"Soon," Chris promised, as she fussed. "Maybe we'll stop at the house to get our bathing suits and we'll swim at Uncle Jim's house." 

Olivia whined pitifully, as the girls on the field screeched during their practice tournament. With their first one scheduled for the weekend, the last few practices consisted of trial practices, as the team was split evenly and the girls were allowed to run wild. 

Giving Olivia a picture book to flip through, Chris dealt with the heat, and watched the game before him. As the game got more and more intense, Chris began to worry. The girls got more and more pushy, as they kicked the ball back and forth, tackling each other to the ground. 

"Jesus.." he winced, as two girls collided on the field. 

One they were pulled off the field and replaced with two other girls, the game resumed, only to end when Sophia was hit in the face with a ball; knocking her flat on the ground. Chris was quickly out of the chair and across the field, much to Olivia's fright, as Sophia slowly pulled herself up off the ground. 

"Sophie! Sophie!" 

The first thing he noticed, was that she wasn't crying. Nor was there any blood on her face, much to his relief. Instead, Sophia was laughing wildly, as he knelt before her on the ground; the coach stood right behind her, looking just as worried as he felt.  

"Are you okay?" Chris asked, more panicked than she was. "Are you hurt?" 

Sophia shrugged, "I'm good!" she said. "Daddy, I play ball now! Bye, bye! " 

He watched as she rushed off to get back into the game, which had paused when the ball collided with her face. Dazed, Chris got up and slowly walked back to his seat, where Olivia waited for him. 

"Daddy!" she gasped, as he picked her up. "Pia gots hit!" 

"She's okay," he nodded, watching as Sophia ran around with a smile on her face, kicking the ball away from another girl. "This is going to be the death of me." 

....................

Jim howled after Chris re-told the story to Leonard, who came home after a long day at work. "Bones! Why aren't you laughing?" Jim wheezed, as Leonard picked up the girl in question, giving her a bear hug and a kiss. 

"Because it's not funny!" Leonard exclaimed, as he examined Sophia's face. "She's got a bruise the size of a avocado on her face, Jim!" 

Sure enough, after arriving at the Kirk-McCoy household, Sophia was sporting a shiner around her eye. Fussy when Chris lightly touched her face to check for broken bones, he got her bathed and dressed before giving her a dose of children's ibuprofen for the pain. Instead of playing in the pool with her sisters and cousins, Chris had her tucked in on the sofa with a movie, afraid that any more physical activity would cause more damage. 

"But, but..." Jim sputtered, before snorting. "BALLS TO THE FACE, BONES! IT'S ALWAYS FUNNY!" 

At that moment, Olivia shrieked with giggles. "See! Olivia thinks it's funny!" Jim protested, as the girl laughed. 

"Pia gots balls to the face," she squealed, which made Sophia giggle. "Balls to the face, Pia!" 

Chris groaned, "Mel's going to flip out when she comes home tomorrow," he shook his head. "I don't think Soph will get that soccer scholarship now." 

"Mellie will have a fit, but she'll probably get over it," Leonard sighed, setting Sophia back into her chair. "Though, she'll probably try to get the coach to let her wear a hockey mask from now on." 

"I mean, it could've been worse, right?" Chris asked, looking at his brother-in-laws. "She could've had a broken nose or cheekbone. Maybe a couple teeth knocked out..." 

Leonard nodded, "Don't pull her out," he said. "Maybe sign her up for karate or somethin' though. That way she can learn some self-defense." 

Looking across the table, Sophia grinned at Chris, the bruise getting darker and darker as the hours went by. "Daddy, can we go home now?" she asked. "You're makin' our chicken boobies for dinners." 

"I might as well," Chris shook his head. "I still have to figure out how I'm going to tell your mother about your face. Might as well start diggin' my grave out back." 

..................

"Are you sure she's alright?" Melanie asked for the hundredth time, as she held Sophia on her lap. "Shouldn't we take her to the hospital, just in case? I mean, what if something is fractured or broken?" 

"Mel, if her cheekbone was broken, her face would be swollen and she would be in a lot of pain," Chris said, as Melanie looked at her daughter sadly. "She only complains about it hurting if you press around her face too hard." 

She sighed, "I guess we'll just have to teach you how to dodge a ball, huh?" she finally said, much to Chris's surprise. 

Olivia giggled at her spot on the floor, "Pia gets balls to the face, Mommy," she said, which made Sophia giggle. 

"Dadddddyyyy, Julie wants to know if I can sleep over on Friday!" Charlotte said, holding the cordless phone in her hand. "Please say yes! Uncle Karu's gonna make sushi for us and we're gonna watch Harry Potter!" 

"You can sleep over," Chris said, which earned him a round of squeals, as Charlotte screeched into the phone. "Hurry up with that phone call, okay? We need to start dinner soon!" 

As Charlotte went back into the kitchen, Chris watched as CJ walked around the living room with his stuffed puppy; a pack of cats following his footsteps, as they meowed and flicked their tails. "So, she's staying on the team?" Chris asked. 

Melanie nodded, "It's helping her," she sighed. "Though, we'll have to practice more at home and see about signing her up for indoor soccer during the fall and winter. I just hope she doesn't break her nose or her face next time." 

"Mommy, I'm good," Sophia said, reaching up to pat her cheek. "Still pretty." 

"You're  _beautiful,"_ Melanie said, kissing the side of her face that wasn't bruised. "Mommy will give you an ice pack later, okay? But you'll tell either me or Daddy if your face starts to hurt really bad, okay? That way we can take you to the doctor's and they can take pictures and give you medicine." 

Sophia nodded and climbed off her lap, "'Ivvie, let's play with the blocks," she said, starting for the toy bin near the wall. "Build castles." 

As the girls went off to play, Melanie sat back against the sofa and sighed. "Tired?" Chris asked, lifting her foot up and onto his lap. "You look beat, Mel." 

"This was the worst conference I've ever been too," she whined. "And I've been to plenty in my adult life, but this was just awful." 

He hummed, pressing his thumb into the sole of her foot, which made her grunt. "The hotel they put us in was disgusting. I had to shower with my flip flops on! A couple of us went to the Wal-Mart down the block and got cans of lysol and clorox wipes to wipe and spray the bed and counters down in our rooms." 

"You poor thing," Chris pouted, which earned him a scowl. "Is that were all that stuff came from? On the counter in the kitchen." 

"Next time, I'm going to book a hotel room of  _my_ choice," Melanie said. "I might have to get tested for scabies or something. Or I'll just shower with bleach until I feel clean." 

Chris snorted as he continued to rub her aching foot, while CJ went over to Olivia and Sophia. "Eh-ah, boo boo," he babbled, pointing to Sophia. "Eh-ah, boo boo?" 

Olivia nodded, "Pia gots balls to the face, CJ,' she giggled. "Big balls."

"That really shouldn't be funny," Melanie whined, giggling as she covered her face. "Oh my god." 

"BIG BALLS!" Sophia screeched, as CJ started giggling hysterically at his sisters. "BIG BALLS! BIG BALLS!" 

Joining in on the laughter, Chris shook his head. "It really shouldn't be," he agreed, as the girls continued to shout their mantra of "big balls" over and over again. "But it will make for a good story when she's much older." 

Melanie nodded in agreement, "Especially if she becomes a famous soccer player," she sighed. "Hopefully by that point, she'll know how to dodge when balls are flying towards her face." 

 


End file.
